Lucian (Filthy Marcellos #1)(39)

Lucian ground his teeth, trying to calm the rush of adrenaline. "And she's mine."

The stare down between Lucian and Ron lasted seconds. As it was, they'd already been in the place for too long. It needed to be done with, and fast.

"Your son, he loved her, cared for her  …  and you did nothing to help her," Lucian growled. "If I can't have Will today, I'll take second best as a prize, Ron. I think we've both earned it."

"I don't want Jordyn," Ron tried to say.

Lucian shrugged. "But Will does. I won't let him have her and you're a damn good example to make."

That effectively ended the conversation for Lucian.

And Ron's life.





Chapter Seventeen





Jordyn's nerves grew to epic proportions as she waited for Lucian's arrival at Cazza. The original plan was for him to pick her up at the condo and bring her to dinner, but that had changed sometime over the day. Antony informed her of the new plan to meet all of the boys at the restaurant so they could eat together.

When she asked why the change, Antony just smiled grimly and said nothing.

Now, his back was turned to her as he watched a news broadcast on the large flat screen television located on the far wall in the private VIP dining area of the restaurant. It was turned on low, but Jordyn wasn't stupid. She was more than capable of looking at the words flashing at the bottom of the screen.



       
         
       
        

Legs and Leather. Known to be a popular scene for the infamous MC gang The Sons of Hell. Five dead. Dozens of witnesses who couldn't give an accurate description of the assailants. Early reports suggested a robbery. Officials weren't ruling out the incident being related to the motorcycle gang.

On top of the shooting, the investigators had removed several weapons and illegal substances from the strip club that were not believed to have been involved with the incident, but the guests of the business itself. ATF had also been called in. Legs and Leather was closed until further notice. Several MC members, their pictures and names flashing across the screen, had been arrested for weapons and drugs. The victims' names were not being released at that time.

Jordyn felt sick.

It wasn't the scene playing out on the news that really bothered her, but the fact that she hadn't heard a thing about Lucian all day.

"Does it make me an awful person that I don't care about those five body bags because I'm too concerned about seeing Lucian?" Jordyn asked.

Antony shrugged, his back still turned. "I'm morally bankrupt and have been for a long time, so I don't think I'm the best person to ask that, Jordyn."

His honesty was startling. "I've never really asked Lucian his thoughts, but how do you deal with feeling that way, or rather, being  …  this way," she finished with a wave between Antony and the television.

"I pray."

Jordyn's brow rose. "Pray?"

Antony nodded. "And I ask for forgiveness. Though it may not seem like enough to apologize for the choices I make daily, and all the wrongs I've done before, it's enough for me. Confession and penance are my greatest friends. Well, that and my angel of a wife. Her understanding, love, and acceptance of me in this life is a constant, unwavering cornerstone I need to survive. She is the one soul on earth I couldn't stand to see hurt because of me, so I make sure she doesn't ever have to."

Jordyn didn't get the chance to ask anything else. The arrival of three, loud Marcello brothers ended the conversation. Both Antony and Jordyn stood from the table to greet them.

Antony smiled, any worry in his features gone instantly. "Good day?"

"Perfect," Dante responded. "Tell me you ordered already. I'm starving."

"I did. The usual."

"Awesome," Gio muttered, pulling out a chair.

Jordyn couldn't help but notice how they were all dressed in their usual suits, clean and unbothered. The television continued to play the news broadcast, but none seemed to care.

The one she wanted to talk to the most was the quietest. There was tension in the frown Lucian sported, an anger in his gaze. Lucian offered his hand to Jordyn and tilted his head to the side as if to ask her to come with him. She did, following him to the other side of the room where they were afforded some privacy. 

"I'm sorry," Lucian said quietly.

"What for?"

"It's not over, sweetheart. I was hoping it would be, and I could tell you that, but it's not. And I'm sorry."

Will wasn't gone.

"He's going to try again. Something, I don't know. We'll be ready. I don't want you worried over him."

"Okay. I was more worried about you, Lucian."

Lucian smiled tightly. "You shouldn't be. How was your day?"

"Busy. Antony kept me moving."

"He's good for that. Anything new to tell me?"

Jordyn snorted. "Antony now has an assistant."

Lucian cringed. "Yeah. Good luck. I'm not saying you can't do it, but he's got a bad habit of chewing them up and spitting them out."

"He needs someone to tell him to shut the fuck up every once in a while."

"And you're good for that. It'll be an interesting match."

This conversation felt all too normal and calm for Jordyn. Maybe she thought there would be some emotion or possibly guilt from her lover. There was nothing. Just like the other three men sitting behind them at the table, joking and laughing.

What kind of a woman did it make her that she was perfectly fine with their behavior?

"This is pretty," Lucian noted, his fingers coming up to graze the diamond necklace Jordyn now wore. She was seriously trying not to think of the price tag on the piece. Never mind the other gifts Antony had sent back to the condo. "My father?"

"Did you know it's highly offensive to his sensibilities when someone denies his gifts? That's what he said. Highly offensive, Lucian. You can't even argue with him because he just looks at you like your opinion doesn't bear any importance to his final decision."

Lucian nodded. "Welcome to my life. The necklace suits you well, I'm impressed. Antony has good taste."

"I'm not going to go shopping with him again if this is what he does."

"I hate to tell you, sweetheart, but he won't be the only one. You better get used to it."

Jordyn didn't think she ever would.



• • •



"This waking up alone thing is starting to give me a serious complex."

Lucian's shoulders tensed at Jordyn's voice, but he didn't turn away from whatever he was doing. This time, she hadn't found him on the deck, or pretending to be busy in his office like the last couple of nights. Tonight, he was in his gun room with all of the lights on and the door wide open.

It wasn't so much the lack of his presence in bed that woke her, but the noise.

"You know I love you," Lucian said. "Don't go worrying on that end."

"I'm not. What are you doing? It's two in the damned morning, Lucian."

"Fixing my guns."

He was standing in nothing but boxer-briefs, working over the table sitting in the middle of the room. Stress had tightened his muscles, his back flexing as he grabbed what looked like a drill with a long bit attached and some kind of metal piece with grooves at the end. The whirling screech that woke her up started again, making Jordyn cringe.

"They're broken, or you're breaking them? Because I don't think this is how you fix a gun!"

"Fixing them," he repeated when the noise stopped. "It's a waste to get rid of them if they're used."



       
         
       
        

"With a drill?"

Jordyn was so confused it wasn't even funny. This was getting ridiculous.

Lucian waved her over and Jordyn moved to his side. On the table sat two Eagles and a dismantled assault rifle. A bottle of cleaning solution, a jar of oil, and giant Q-tips were all set out on paper towels. Jordyn watched as Lucian repeated the process of the drill down the barrel of the gun, then the cleaning solution on a Q-tip into the barrel, and finally followed by the oil. Over and over he repeated the process in silence.

"Every bullet leaving the chamber has a certain set of striation marks left from the barrel. Every gun leaves different marks, kind of like a fingerprint. Ballistic testing can trace a bullet back to a gun by using those alone. I hate tossing out my guns. This," Lucian said, holding up the drill bit, " …  is a quick way to change the grooves inside of a barrel without messing up the weapon. It creates entirely new patterns, meaning the next bullet to come out won't have the same striations. The cleaning solution gets rid of any metal fragments left inside so there's no worry of the gun jamming, and the oil is just good for the piece after a harsh treatment like this."

Oddly, Jordyn found herself interested in his explanations. Actually, she'd long decided since being around him that she didn't mind guns. In fact, the dangerous nature of the weapons mixed well with Lucian's attitude most days, and it was kind of hot.

"So, you decided to do this in the early morning hours, why?"